Lomé summer camp teaches Togo’s children to code and build robots

In the Togolese capital, Lomé, the Digital School Summer Camp immerses children in the world of technology with one aim: to train the innovators of tomorrow.

This involves building a robot, writing their first lines of code, or getting to grips with artificial intelligence.

Fourteen-year-old Winner Koudjra is already working with motors, pliers, and electronic circuits with astonishing precision.

Like around 20 other children taking part in the summer camp at the school, she is learning the basics of robotics by building her first prototype.

Here, technology isn’t just something to look at. It’s taken apart, experimented with, and built, from a young age.

“I am building a robotic hand consisting of pincers and a motor centre,” says Winner.

“Since I started here, I have learnt about the role of technology in today’s world and the components of a robotic hand or other technological devices.”

But robotics is just the first step. A few hours later, she moves to another room. With her fingers on the keyboard, Winner switches from hardware to software.

“We’re working on modifying a web page to create an artificial intelligence. With what I’m learning here, I’d like to be able to create my own website,” she says.

As well as teaching coding, the school also aims to narrow the digital divide between girls and boys.

According to UNESCO, women still account for only 35 per cent of STEM graduates worldwide and 26 per cent of professionals in the fields of data and artificial intelligence.

To address this, the programme focuses on gender equality and offers grants to children from low-income families.

The director of the Lomé Digital School, Got’liebe Bataba, says the aims is to ensure girls are alsoexposed to these tools from a very early age.

“So that in the future we won’t have to try to make up for the lack of women in the digital sector. Beyond the technical aspects, what we’re trying to foster in these children is critical thinking,” he says.

Vanessa Lawson has a child taking part in the summer camp and sees it as a wonderful opportunity.

“It’s an initiative that deserves praise. It already helps to introduce our children to technology at an early age,” she says.

The school goes beyond just fostering digital literacy. It aims to train young innovators to be the future creators of African solutions.